Ireland v Italy: Five talking points ahead of Pool D contest
Last Updated: 04/10/15 2:41pm
A midfield pairing of Earls and Henshaw, Tommy Bowe's reselection and the return of Sergio Parisse dominate the build up to Sunday's Rugby World Cup clash between Ireland and Italy...
Bowe on the comeback trail
Like Ireland, Tommy Bowe is growing in confidence and form.
He remains behind Earls and Dave Kearney in the pecking order but he could argue that his strength allowed him to ride a heavy tackle and score in the corner against Romania.
For him to figure first against France, Bowe will need to post a stellar try-scoring performance against the Italians, and his aerial ability is a useful asset.
It's the team performance that's expected and a strong individual showing could swing the order of things.
Scrum time
The Italian scrum remains one of their key attacking weapons but it is weakened by the loss of injured duo Leonardo Ghiraldini and Martin Castrogiovanni.
Ireland have held their own against Italian pack in recent years and they'll be confident of putting the squeeze on in Stratford.
"They are very aggressive at scrum-time, they are very passionate about it and they are all in there," said Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek.
"They like to walk over the ball so that means they have to push you off it basically. Every time they have a scrum it's going to be hard yards.
We've got to be clinical and not let the emotion cloud what we do.
Greg Feek
"So we need to get the mindset and everything else we've done right, to be able to combat that.
"We've got to be clinical and not let the emotion cloud what we do."
Another area of Italian strength is their lineout maul but Canada negated that last weekend by taking a leaf out of Ireland's book.
The Canadians stood off Italy's line-outs, similar to what Ireland employed against South Africa last November, leaving their maul uncontested and allowing them to challenge for the ball.
This tactic left the Italians extremely frustrated, something that won't have escaped the attention of Joe Schmidt.
Midfield maestros
With Jared Payne ruled out with a bruised foot, Joe Schimdt has opted for a centre partnership of Robbie Henshaw and Keith Earls.
Earls has been in superb form on the wing, scoring three tries in two games, but he is just as dangerous at centre and his searing pace can cause Italy problems.
Henshaw's power provides Ireland with the option to go direct and get over the gain line, but he will also occupy the minds of defenders as a decoy runner should Jonny Sexton opt to move the ball wide.
The defensive qualities of Payne will be missed but Earls has been working hard in this area, and he could exploit gaps in an ageing Italian side that tends to tire in the final 20 minutes.
Captain fantastic
The return of Italy captain Sergio Parisse, whether 100 per cent fit or not, cannot be underestimated.
Parisse was in the stands when Scotland tore them apart at Murrayfield in a World Cup warm-up, but his return the following weekend marked a stark improvement as the Azzurri ran Wales close in Cardiff.
At 32 years of age and with 113 caps to his name, Parisse remains one of the best No 8s in the world and the heartbeat of this Italian team.
He is tasked with lifting a side that were extremely fortunate to beat Canada last weekend.
Is Allan the answer?
Italy's fly-half problems down through the years have been well-documented, and doubts remain over whether Tomasso Allan can cut it at the top level.
The Perpignan pivot, who played at underage level for Scotland and had stints in the Wasps academy and with Western Province, certainly has the pedigree and jumped ahead of Luciano Orquera and the injured Kelly Haimona in the pecking order.
Allan landed all five of his kicks at goal against Canada. However, like those who preceded in the No 10 shirt, he has struggled to ignite a faltering backline.
Those struggles could continue on Sunday, with Ireland likely to deny Allan the decent service he craves.
